George Washington-shaped Chicken McNugget sells for $8,100 on eBay

A Nebraska woman who put a 3-year-old Chicken McNugget up for auction on eBay has netted $8,100 for her local church.

Last month, the Sideshow told you about Rebekah Speight and the piece of fried fast food she says resembles George Washington. Speight said at the time she was selling the McNugget to help raise money for a youth camp run by her church, the Family Worship Center, in Sioux City, Iowa. The nugget sale was originally only expected to be a small contribution to the worship center's ultimate fundraising goal of $15,000.

When we first reported the story, the McNugget was locked in relative obscurity, with a then-leading bid of just over $100. By the time the auction finished, its page had been viewed more than 40,000 times and received 71 bids on its way to $8,100.

The auction was temporarily pulled offline because it violated eBay's rules against selling expired food products. However, the site quickly reinstated the auction, telling Speight in an email that eBay was "willing to make exceptions to help your cause."

After Speight's auction went viral, it became clear that people were just as excited, if not more, about helping the fundraising effort as acquiring the presidential piece of chicken. Speight herself appealed to potential bidders, writing on the auction site that, "by bidding on this rare 'President George Washington Chicken McNugget' … not only will you have an opportunity to be the new owner of this rare find, but you will be investing in the lives of children."

The auction has even inspired some other sellers trying to cash in on the mini-phenomenon. One seller is offering a George Washington Chicken McNugget magnet for your consideration.

After first reporting on the auction, I received hundreds of emails from Sideshow readers who chimed in with their own thoughts on who they saw in the nugget's visage.

Reader Kara wrote, "If you turn the nugget upside down, it looks more like an old man wearing a beret. You can even see his ear!"

Several other readers wrote in to say they saw a different iconic American figure, that of Uncle Sam. And a man named Andrew wrote in to observe, "The Chicken McNugget looks more like a profile of the Jigsaw mask from the 'SAW' movies."

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